In this week’s digital news, Amazon’s disappearance from Google Shopping is reshaping ad dynamics. Free tools come at a price, your data. As third-party cookies vanish, marketers must earn trust through transparency, consent and real value.
Google announced the early release of the first API for Google Trends, known as the Google Trends API. A new analysis finds Google’s top organic CTR dropped from 28% to 19% following the expansion of AI Overviews, highlighting how behaviour is changing.
Users are less likely to click on links when Google shows an AI-generated summary, with only 8% clicking on a search result compared to 15% when no summary appears. LinkedIn has overtaken X as the top social platform for journalists in 2025, making it the most effective place for PR professionals to build relationships.
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Amazon pulls out of Google Shopping ads
Amazon has abruptly withdrawn from Google Shopping ad auctions, significantly impacting ad dynamics and Alphabet’s revenue. This unprecedented move, spanning 20 international markets, ends Amazon’s major role in inflating auction costs and capturing shopper traffic. Experts speculate on whether it’s a temporary pause or strategic shift, possibly linked to AI or budget changes. While CPCs haven’t dropped yet, competitors now have a rare opportunity to gain visibility and clicks at potentially lower costs.
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Privacy is the new currency in digital marketing
As third party cookies fade, marketers face a major shift from passive data collection to consent driven, transparent strategies. Privacy expectations, fuelled by laws like GDPR and rising consumer awareness, now demand ethical data practices. Brands must earn first party and zero party data by offering clear value in return. Poor consent UX and dark patterns erode trust, while transparency and respect foster loyalty. Tools like CMPs and CDPs are essential, but trust must be built into company culture. This isn’t just compliance, it’s a strategic opportunity. Ethical data collection is now a core pillar of sustainable digital marketing.
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Google launches Google Trends API
Google has launched a limited alpha release of its first-ever Google Trends API, offering select users access to search trend data spanning the past five years. The API provides aggregated data (daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly by region or sub-region), with updates as recent as two days ago. Use cases include content strategy for marketers and SEOs, trend tracking for publishers, and research support for academics. Google notes strong demand for this functionality, especially for analysing historic events. While access is currently restricted, interested users can apply to join the alpha. This could be a game-changer for data-driven marketing and storytelling.
Read more here.
Google CTRs drop 32% for top result after AI Overview rollout
A new study from GrowthSRC Media reveals that Google’s top organic search result click-through rate (CTR) has dropped 32%, from 28% to 19%, following the widespread rollout of AI Overviews. The analysis of 200,000+ keywords shows that while top positions saw notable declines, CTRs for positions 6–10 actually increased by 30.63%, suggesting users may be bypassing AI summaries in search of original content. Ecommerce sectors are also impacted by expanded Product Widgets. With organic traffic becoming harder to capture, SEO experts are urged to shift focus toward brand visibility, content diversification, and measuring value beyond traditional traffic metrics.
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Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results
Users are less likely to click on links when Google shows an AI-generated summary, with only 8% clicking on a search result compared to 15% when no summary appears. Just 1% of visits to AI summary pages result in users clicking links within the summary itself. About 26% of users end their browsing after seeing a summary, compared to 16% for pages without one. Longer and question-based searches are more likely to trigger an AI summary, with 60% of question-word searches and 53% of 10-word-or-longer searches producing one.
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PR trends: The shifts you can’t ignore in 2025
LinkedIn has overtaken X as the top social platform for journalists in 2025, making it the most effective place for PR professionals to build relationships. Despite some rise in DM-based outreach, 96% of journalists still prefer to receive pitches via email. Journalists now value exclusives more than original research and prioritise access to credible sources over story ideas or data. Irrelevant pitches are increasing, with 47% of journalists saying they seldom receive relevant outreach, and response rates continue to decline as pitch volumes rise. With ongoing layoffs and more journalists moving to independent platforms like Substack, PR professionals must focus on relevance, personalisation, and consistency to cut through the noise.
Read more here.
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